[Four cases of spinal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma]

We report four cases with spinal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (3 male and 1 female, 33 to 58 years old). On administration, back pain progressing to paraplegia was observed in all cases. Sphincter dysfunction was observed in two cases. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies were most useful for the clinical diagnosis of spinal lymphoma. Diffuse large B cell lymphoma was revealed from immunohistochemical studies of bone biopsies. The patients' clinical stagings were IV in three and I E in one case. One case treated by surgery followed by chemotherapy (CMT) and radiation therapy (RT) resulted in progressive disease. RT followed by CMT was given in the other cases. Two cases showed a partial response and one died from progressive disease. In all cases, either surgical or radiation therapy was helpful for the amelioration of the patients' progressive paraplegia and sphincter dysfunction.